I took a '15 R1 out for a quick spin this morning, it was a 5k mile bike that had been traded in for an R1M. I know a couple of people on here have owned them so my views are just based on a 1 hour ride on local B roads, no I can't ride like Hutchy/MD/McG and don't try to but gave it enough to get well into 3 figures and get the front wheel off the ground a few times.
I've been interested to ride one of these as they arrived with so much press hype last year and since then they seem to have been a bit of a marmite bike that people either take to or don't. I haven't ridden a Yamaha for quite a while but do have a soft spot for them having owned a 125 then 350LC in my youth and later on '99 and '03 R1's.
The bikes got fairly low angled bars and a thin hard seat although I have to say I didn't find them uncomfortable while I was on the bike, in fact the overall riding position wasn't much different from a 1299. The bike has all the latest traction control and comes with 4 riding modes that you can play around with easily and customise, the bike I rode had been owned by a racer and the dealer wasn't sure how much he'd played around with settings so it may well have been different to the out of the crate set up. The bike has a quickshifter but no autoblipper, Japanese non Brembo brakes and was running on Supercorsas.
Setting off in 'B' mode (full power but 'softer' responses) the low speed throttle response was very jerky coming out of town and was a pain in the arse, so I switched it into 'A' mode which is supposed to be the harshest setting and suddenly the low speed jerkiness more or less disappeared on this bike. Once out of town its clear the bike is immensely fast, I'd read that it doesn't do much below 7k and then takes off, full stop this one just felt strong full stop allowing the front wheel to come off the ground easily in first (back to that in a second) and powering at a hell of a rate of knots to the 'red' line on the smart TPT dash. The bike has the highest gearing of any bike I've ridden where I was using first and second far more than I would on my RR on the same road.
The suspension was fairly firm but worked better and better the faster I went, its not active on this model (the R1M is) and you can tell the difference v the active systems on the RR and 1299 where you feel every lump and bump but thats more an observation than a criticism. Turn in was very fast and I can imagine on track it would be fantastic. The bike doesn't have an autoblipper which isn't a disaster but once you've had one a la Sthou and 1299 you do miss it..
Overall I enjoyed riding the bike far more than I thought I would, it's great fun, it has a real raw edge, mega power, very sharp responses and Rossi sound track that I imagine would sound brilliant with an aftermarket can. I'm not sure how comfortable it would be over distance but I have to say todays ride has changed my perceptions of the bike and while its not as rounded as the BMW I could see myself owning one. It has to be said that here are some bloody fantastic litre bike out there at the moment and in the case of R1 you can also currently get it in the iconic 'Roberts' anniversary colours, here's a photo of some yet unbought bikes lurking in the back of the shop, apologies for the slightly fuzzy shot - you also get an akra when you go for this colour...
I've been interested to ride one of these as they arrived with so much press hype last year and since then they seem to have been a bit of a marmite bike that people either take to or don't. I haven't ridden a Yamaha for quite a while but do have a soft spot for them having owned a 125 then 350LC in my youth and later on '99 and '03 R1's.
The bikes got fairly low angled bars and a thin hard seat although I have to say I didn't find them uncomfortable while I was on the bike, in fact the overall riding position wasn't much different from a 1299. The bike has all the latest traction control and comes with 4 riding modes that you can play around with easily and customise, the bike I rode had been owned by a racer and the dealer wasn't sure how much he'd played around with settings so it may well have been different to the out of the crate set up. The bike has a quickshifter but no autoblipper, Japanese non Brembo brakes and was running on Supercorsas.
Setting off in 'B' mode (full power but 'softer' responses) the low speed throttle response was very jerky coming out of town and was a pain in the arse, so I switched it into 'A' mode which is supposed to be the harshest setting and suddenly the low speed jerkiness more or less disappeared on this bike. Once out of town its clear the bike is immensely fast, I'd read that it doesn't do much below 7k and then takes off, full stop this one just felt strong full stop allowing the front wheel to come off the ground easily in first (back to that in a second) and powering at a hell of a rate of knots to the 'red' line on the smart TPT dash. The bike has the highest gearing of any bike I've ridden where I was using first and second far more than I would on my RR on the same road.
The suspension was fairly firm but worked better and better the faster I went, its not active on this model (the R1M is) and you can tell the difference v the active systems on the RR and 1299 where you feel every lump and bump but thats more an observation than a criticism. Turn in was very fast and I can imagine on track it would be fantastic. The bike doesn't have an autoblipper which isn't a disaster but once you've had one a la Sthou and 1299 you do miss it..
Overall I enjoyed riding the bike far more than I thought I would, it's great fun, it has a real raw edge, mega power, very sharp responses and Rossi sound track that I imagine would sound brilliant with an aftermarket can. I'm not sure how comfortable it would be over distance but I have to say todays ride has changed my perceptions of the bike and while its not as rounded as the BMW I could see myself owning one. It has to be said that here are some bloody fantastic litre bike out there at the moment and in the case of R1 you can also currently get it in the iconic 'Roberts' anniversary colours, here's a photo of some yet unbought bikes lurking in the back of the shop, apologies for the slightly fuzzy shot - you also get an akra when you go for this colour...
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